Policemen at a blast site near the Binpur I BDO’s office on Thursday. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Lalgarh, July 2: Suspected Maoists today detonated two improvised explosive devices barely a hundred metres from the office of the Binpur I block development officer hours before two state government secretaries were to hold a meeting.

The two simultaneous blasts in Lalgarh town — the devices were planted at the side of a metalled road leading from Jhitka forest to the town — at 7.30am did not cause injuries but startled the administration that has 900 state and central security personnel deployed in the area right now.

A policeman standing nearby was so startled that he involuntarily pulled the trigger releasing a bullet.

“We are investigating how the IEDs was planted so close to the BDO’s office,” said Praveen Kumar, DIG, Midnapore range. “They may have been planted last night as the area had been sanitised by the police and nothing had been found.”

Police sources said though patrolling had been done routinely, there was no police posting in that area last night.

The police said the IEDs were detonated by Maoists who were hiding in bushes about 200m away. They could have fled into the Jhitka forest.

“This has been a serious lapse and we have to be more careful at night,” said a police officer.

“The Maoists obviously took advantage of the situation and detonated the IEDs to drive home two messages. One, that it would be hazardous to dismiss them lightly and that they are still a force to reckon with. Second, that they are opposed to the government’s efforts to start development work here.”

The meeting of two state government secretaries was, however, held at the BDO’s office as scheduled. “Our schedule was not upset by the blasts,” said Sourav Das, the secretary of the public health engineering department. “The blasts were meant to create panic among the people.”

Two other senior officers, Subrata Gupta, the managing director of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, and revenue secretary C.M. Bachawat, who were sent to Lalgarh to check on the progress of irrigation projects, travelled to different areas in mine-protected vehicles.

Immediately after the blasts, 400 central police personnel fanned out in the Jhitka forest. The troops combed the jungles in the rain right up to Kantapahari, covering a stretch of 6km. No Maoist was caught.

In Lalgarh, the police increased security after the blasts and put up checkposts where cars were stopped and searched.

In Bankura, an IED wrapped in plastic was found at Tantidanga on the Piralgari-Sarenga road near Sarenga police station this afternoon, reports our special correspondent.

Local residents alerted a police team this afternoon after spotting a device with wires sticking out of it.

Yesterday, three kilograms of explosives packed in a metal container was found planted at Khayerpahari.

After yesterday’s find, a n anti-sabotage drive was carried out by the police from dawn to dusk today.